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Large-scale early urban settlements in Amazonia

An aerial technique that can capture hidden signs of human modifications of ancient landscapes has provided data that will prompt a rethink about the types of settlement inhabited by early societies in the Amazon region.
  1. Christopher T. Fisher

    1. Christopher T. Fisher is at the Earth Archive Initiative and in the Department of Anthropology and Geography, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523, USA.

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One way to try to understand how ancient societies functioned is to study the physical characteristics of their settlements. However, identifying such sites in tropical rainforests can be challenging. Writing in Nature, Prümers et al.1 present data that prompt a re-evaluation of the scale of early settlements in the Amazon.

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Nature 606, 254-255 (2022)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-01367-x

References

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Competing Interests

The author declares no competing interests.

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